Author post… Recursions, Part 11: “Ulysses,” by James Joyce 10 Sep 201828 Sep 2018 This is the eleventh in a series of short critical looks at books of literary criticism. Yes, a writer writing about writers who write about writers! I composed these for…
Author post The Most Important Thing A Writer Can Do Is Write 7 Aug 2018 There is one indispensable step to writing, and that is that you must sit down and write. This is technically untrue, and was not such a hard and fast rule…
Author post To Lie for Truth’s Sake: the Novelist’s Conundrum 20 Apr 201820 Apr 2018 The job of a fiction writer is to lie. Still, if it were only to lie, you could dedicate yourself to advertising or politics instead, and accept troubled sleep as…
Author post… Recursions, Part 10: “The Dawn Watch,” by Maya Jasanoff 4 Mar 20184 Mar 2018 This is the tenth in a series of short critical looks at books of literary criticism. Yes, a writer writing about writers who write about writers! I composed these for…
Announcement More Advice on Writing, Reprinted 2 Feb 20187 Feb 2018 Advice on writing by...er...me! Reprinted in "A Writer's Path," a literary community, originally printed here as "Clause and Effect": "How to Avoid Being Too Wordy in Your Writing" This is…
Author post When “Likes” Attract “Likes”–and Nothing Else 1 Jan 20182 Jan 2018 In electronics, the signal-to-noise ratio is the proportion of information carried in a transmission versus the hums, buzzes, and clicks in the carrier medium, be it radio waves or packet…
Author post Clause and Effect 11 Dec 201711 Dec 2017 Do you love subordinate clauses? I know I do. And how about assonance and alliteration, rhythm and rhyme? Let's face it: they can be as tasty as chocolate. But would…
Author post… Recursions, Part 9: “Finding a Form,” by William H. Gass 7 Dec 20177 Dec 2017 This is the ninth in a series of short critical looks at books of literary criticism. Yes, a writer writing about writers who write about writers! I composed these for…
Author post Transcending Place 2 Dec 201714 Jan 2018 Place is important in stories: while plots are (or should be) based on actions, actions have to take place in a place--the very phrase "take place" tells us that. Be…
Author post The Value of Forgetting 5 Nov 20175 Nov 2017 A good memory is both blessing and curse to a novelist. As with all two-edged weapons, you have to wield it with caution, lest you damage your own self...or in…
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